Fifteen San Diego companies that aim to increase their exports are poised for a $10,000 boost.

The San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp. today plans to announce a first of its kind program that will send money to these companies to help them give San Diego a more global presence. The initiative, called Metro Connect, comes as San Diego’s economic officials try to encourage ways to increase business opportunities abroad. The efforts extend to companies that both produce goods but also deliver services. The Brookings Institution reported that San Diego is the nation’s 17th largest economy, but it exports as if it’s the 55th, a distinction that holds back its potential growth.

“We’re not drawing enough international business into San Diego by way of investment and we don’t see our businesses who are here exporting enough,” said Mark Cafferty, chief executive of the EDC. “We know if we can improve in both of those areas that means jobs, that means creation of jobs locally.”

Companies receiving the awards will use the money in different ways. For instance, VAVi Sport and Social will spend the funds on opening an Australian arm. Applied Membranes, which makes water treating systems, will travel to explore more opportunities in Asia, where they perceive high demand. Robo 3D, a 3D printer manufacturer, plans to use the money to establish a European division, and Total Communicator Solutions, which creates communication systems for large events and organizations, will use the $10,000 to help with training efforts abroad.

“Part of the challenge with exporting is that in order for it to work, whatever works in the U.S. doesn’t necessarily automatically work overseas, so you have to have some presence, you have to have some understanding of what’s going on in the local area,” said Erik Bjontegard, president of Total Communicator Solutions.

The businesses selected are small, with the companies averaging 30 local employees. Steve Creskoff, an international trade lawyer based in Virginia, said $10,000 could go toward helping a small business pay for consulting services on how to set up an export business, fund a trip to a trade show where they could market their product, or finance initial exports. While Creskoff said every business should look at exporting, he also said it’s important to be realistic about demands abroad. He said that was important for the EDC judges to consider when awarding the grants.

“If I were running this kind of program I would want to know what sort of product or service was involved and how competitive that would be on the international market, that would be my threshold,” Creskoff said. “Is this something that could really be on the international market? Otherwise you’re just throwing money away.”

In starting the program, the EDC received applications from 64 companies. The nonprofit enlisted the help of representatives from organizations like Biocom, Qualcomm Ventures, and Software San Diego to select the 15 companies. Of those, five had 2014 revenues of less than $400,000, while another five had generated more than $14 million last year.

Funding for the program came from the nonprofit arm of JPMorgan Chase, which donated $200,000 to the nonprofit. The EDC, which did not take a commission, will award $50,000 to the company that sees the strongest results and has the most thorough plan for creating jobs in San Diego based on exports. For now, the businesses will each receive the first $5,000, and then the other $5,000 once they demonstrate that they put the funds to their appropriate use.